SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2010, Issue No. 48
June 8, 2010

Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

ODNI BUDGET JUSTIFICATION FOR 2008 RELEASED (REDACTED)

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has released the unclassified portions of its Congressional Budget Justification Book for Fiscal Year 2008, in response to a three year old Freedom of Information Act request from the Federation of American Scientists. Most of the substance of the document and all of the budget figures have been withheld on asserted national security grounds. But a few tidbits of interest and items of curiosity remain. For example:

In 2008, ODNI planned to "deploy a working Library of National Intelligence" and to "ensure that all IC products are represented in the Library." It also planned to "use the Outside Experts Panel... to analyze and recommend opportunities to support democracy movements" and to "fund and support a research repository of materials related to democratic development managed by the Open Source Center." (See p. 107).

The office of Oversight and Liaison within the DNI Special Security Center is "the ODNI focal point for the IC for reporting and coordination of unauthorized disclosures of intelligence information." (See p. 144).

MIEs, or Multidisciplinary Intelligence Experiments, "serve to identify innovative methods for leveraging cross-agency systems and processes to address difficult, high priority intelligence problems. The MIE Program is a collaborative effort by the CIA, DIA, NGA, NSA, NRO and FBI to develop, evaluate and analyze new concepts for operating in an integrated and synchronized manner." (See p. 219).

SHARP, the Summer Hard Problems Program, "is a four-week seminar sponsored by the ODNI Office of Analytic Technology and Transformation. It is comprised of intelligence community, other governmental, and non-government experts and focuses on a single intelligence analytic challenge." (See p. 223).

A copy of the redacted ODNI Congressional Budget Justification Book for Fiscal Year 2008 is posted here:

DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL, AND MORE FROM CRS

Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service obtained by Secrecy News that have not previously been made available online include the following.

"Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Selected Issues for Congress," May 27, 2010:

"Deferred Examination of Patent Applications: Implications for Innovation Policy," May 27, 2010:

"Post-Employment, 'Revolving Door,' Laws for Federal Personnel," updated May 12, 2010:

"A New United Nations Entity for Women: Issues for Congress," May 25, 2010:

"Democratic Reforms in Taiwan: Issues for Congress," May 26, 2010:

"Detection of Nuclear Weapons and Materials: Science, Technologies, Observations," updated June 4, 2010:

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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

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